Friday, October 30, 2015

Jamie Foss, Chemist II
with the Forensic Chemistry Section at Maine CDC's Health and Environmental
Testing Lab (HETL), recently presented a paper at the Northeastern
Association of Forensic Scientist’s Annual Meeting on his research related to
the analysis of drugs by Time of Flight (TOF) Mass Spectroscopy.

Maine has seen an increase in
heroin use and overdose over the past three years, resulting in an increase in
heroin samples submitted to the lab for identification. To meet this
challenge, HETL has been working with Perkin Elmer Health Sciences to beta-test
their direct sample analysis. The sensitivity and quality of the data generated
by this instrument, allows HETL to rapidly identify drugs and help its partners
gain a better understanding of the types of drugs encountered on the streets as
well as improve analysis turn-around time needed to meet the demands of the
judicial system.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Maine CDC has been awarded
the March of Dimes Virginia Apgar Prematurity Campaign Leadership award in
recognition of a more than 8% reduction in pre-term births based on 2014 data
compared to 2009 baseline data.

Monday, October 26, 2015

Pre-diabetes is when blood
sugar levels are higher than normal and puts a person at risk for developing
type 2 diabetes. According to the U.S. CDC and the American Diabetes
Association an estimated:

86 million adults in the U.S. have pre-diabetes

386,000 adults in Maine have pre-diabetes

$243 million in medical costs contributes to Maine’s
economic burden

If pre-diabetes is left
undiagnosed and untreated it can progress to type 2 diabetes. This can
lead to serious health problems like heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney
disease, amputation or death if steps are not taken to self-manage this
disease. There are steps people can take to prevent developing type 2
diabetes. Lifestyle and behavior changes related to eating and physical
activity can decrease a person’s chance of developing type 2 diabetes.

Maine has the National Diabetes
Prevention Program (NDPP) available in many communities across Maine.
NDPP classes typically last for one hour, once a week for 16 weeks then meets
monthly for six months. It helps participants make real lifestyle changes
such as healthy eating, daily physical activity and improving problem-solving
and coping skills to help prevent type 2 diabetes. Many people who
complete the program stay in touch with their group for support. In 2014
alone, over 800 adults in Maine completed the NDPP curriculum. To find a
program and class near you visit RethinkDiabetes.org.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Hospital support for
breastfeeding has improved since 2007, according to the latest U.S. CDC
Vital Signs report released early October. The percentage of U.S. hospitals
using a majority of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, the global
standard for hospital care to support breastfeeding, increased from
approximately 29 percent in 2007 to 54 percent in 2013, a nearly two-fold
increase over six years. Hospitals in Maine that have implemented the majority
of the Ten Steps increased from 72 percent in 2007 to 83 percent in 2013.

Improved hospital care could
increase rates of breastfeeding both in Maine and nationally, contributing to
healthier children. According to U.S. CDC’s 2014 Breastfeeding Report
Card, approximately 28 percent of babies in Maine were born in baby-friendly
hospitals, a rate topped only by New Hampshire and Connecticut. The
Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) was established by the World Health
Organization and UNICEF and endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The
core of the BFHI is the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, which include:

Educating all pregnant women about the benefits and
management of breastfeeding.

Helping mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour
of birth.

Keeping mothers and babies together throughout the entire
hospital stay.

Providing mothers with information about breastfeeding
support groups and refer mothers to these groups upon discharge from the
hospital.

Maine has implemented “6 for ME,”
a health care and quality improvement initiative focused on providing
assistance and support to health care professionals, focusing on six of the Ten
Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. Maine CDC, Let's Go!, MaineHealth and
the Maine State Breastfeeding Coalition all link resources to offer technical
assistance and educational opportunities to health care professionals caring
for mothers and babies.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

On October 6, Maine State
Epidemiologist Dr. Siiri Bennett participated in a four-person panel at the
Maine Public Health Association’s annual fall conference in Augusta. The
session served as an informal introduction to many public health partners,
since Dr. Bennett has been in Maine for around five weeks.

The session was titled: Voices
of Public Health: Sharing Visions for the Future. Each panelist was asked
to share their vision for the future of public health. Dr. Bennett identified
four areas that she believes are crucial to the success of Maine CDC’s mission
to preserve, promote and protect the health, safety and well-being of all Maine
people. Those four areas are disease surveillance, collaboration, education and
communication.

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